...there was this cute little house, Stacey's Dream House, nestled deep in the suburbs of Florida, in Winter Park, just outside of Orlando.

There was only one problem with Stacey's Dream House: It had the dreaded termite problem. In spite of an obvious baiting system and several other prior unsuccessful termite treatments, there was an obviously active infestation of subterranean termites.

How did Stacey know this? Well, she had a swarm of termites, that's how!

Then she noticed that her hardwood floor looked "funny." The finish had come off and she could see "mud" around the edges. Here's a picture of the wood flooring with obvious termite activity, despite the prior unsuccessful treatments.

Luckily for Stacey, she knew exactly what to do: She jumped on the Internet to find a termite control company.

Luckily for us, she found the IPCO Consumer Message Board right away and was able to ask questions and get some answers. Not only did she get answers, she got a real, live expert! Two of them, as a matter of fact: She got us!

Company President Greg Amann and in-house entomologist Ric Gleason showed up to do the job. Here's Greg hamming it up with Stacey.

Because we took on this effort through the IPCO Network, we documented and photographed the job as much as we could for the benefit of the IPCO Network web site. Advance Tech is a charter partner of the Rapid Response Team from the IPCO Network. (If you need a quality pest management company, always check at the IPCO Network first.)

Stacey's termite job got started at around 9:30 in the morning, and didn't get completed until 3:30 in the afternoon. This was no job for the faint of heart. Greg took some great pictures of the house. Here's the outside:

He also got pictures of some of the crawl space conditions underneath the house. As you'll see, not the best of conditions for people, but some of the best conditions for termites. Greg claims he saw virtually every conducive condition for termites you can think of.

The dirt crawl could be better described as a "mud" crawl, with very damp mud from one end to the other. Due to the lack of space for ordinary work tools, Greg was reduced to working with a small garden trowel in some areas of the crawl. Fun down there, eh Greg?

Only a termite technician can appreciate the tight quarters.

Also in the crawl space were copious signs of termites: the usual suspects, in the usual places. Just take a tour through Stacey's crawl space yourself, without even getting dirty.

These abandoned Sentricon termite baiting stations were found on the property from a previous (unsuccessful) attempt at control. At Advance Tech, we have many options for which termiticide to use. Because of the recurring termite problem, it was decided that the only method should be soil treatment.

Luckily, for all concerned, the weapon of choice, was Termidor. Termidor is a relatively new, non-repellent termiticide with an outstanding reputation for the effective control of termites. (Most of us in the field consider that an understatement: The stuff is great.)

Except, of course, for the termites. They're gone — for good.

Even though Stacey was somewhat outside of our normal service territory, we felt that she needed to have some assurance that her problem could be solved. Greg and Ric said they both enjoyed the challenge of solving yet another difficult termite problem, and they also felt it was extremely important to make someone happy who had just about given up on getting the problem taken care of properly. Another satisfied customer.

Want your termite story to have a happy ending, too? Visit our Termite Page to learn more about the different termite treatment options we offer, or contact us for a free, no-obligation inspection.